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Old 03-31-2005, 03:31 AM   #1
pavodive
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Registered: Oct 2004
Distribution: fedora core 3
Posts: 22

Rep: Reputation: 15
find: missing argument to `-exec'


this must be a very silly question, but after reading man find several times I haven't been able to figure out how to make it work...

I want to find the files in some folder that match some pattern and that were modified more than XX days ago, and delete them .

What I'm using is:
Code:
 find ~/sync/papers/ -name p*.* -mtime +5 -ls -exec rm{};
but I always get the error
find: missing argument to '-exec'

I've tried several approaches -rm{} [rm{}] {rm{}} (rm{}) --rm{} but the error persists

What am I doing wrong???
Is there any other way I can find and delete those files??

Thanks for the help!

PavoDive
 
Old 03-31-2005, 04:07 AM   #2
microkernel
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Registered: Mar 2005
Posts: 3

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There should be some space between rm and {}

#find ~/sync/papers/ -name p*.* -mtime +5 -exec rm {} \;

And dont put -ls. If you want to use ls, you must use it with -exec.
 
1 members found this post helpful.
Old 03-31-2005, 05:15 AM   #3
youngtom
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Registered: Feb 2005
Location: Rio de Janerio
Distribution: suse 9.1, suse 9.2, redhat enterprise, ubuntu, kubuntu
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note the backslash before the semi-colon as well in pavodive's example
 
Old 03-31-2005, 11:02 PM   #4
pavodive
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Registered: Oct 2004
Distribution: fedora core 3
Posts: 22

Original Poster
Rep: Reputation: 15
Thank you guys! helped a lot!
 
Old 10-05-2009, 03:24 PM   #5
misiu_mp
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Registered: Aug 2007
Posts: 6

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At last I know how to do -exec with find!
These forums will be a source of google-based knowledge for generations to come!
 
  


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